COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina executed Richard Moore by lethal injection for the fatal shooting of a convenience store clerk in 1999; priests and family members, despite widespread appeals for mercy from parties including three jurors and the trial judge, a former prison warden.

Moore, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

Moore was convicted of murdering Spartanburg clerk James Mahoney in September 1999 and sentenced to death two years later. Moore entered the store unarmed, grabbed a gun from the victim who pointed it at him, and fatally shot him in the chest while the victim shot him in the arm with a second gun.

Moore’s lawyers asked Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole because of his unblemished prison record and willingness to mentor other inmates. They also said it would be unfair to execute someone for what could be considered self-defense, and that it would be unfair for Moore, who is Black, to be the only inmate in the state to be convicted by a jury without any African Americans on death row.

But McMaster refused to grant clemency. He did not specify why in the letter, but said he had reviewed all of the documents submitted by Moore’s attorneys and had spoken with the victim’s family.

No South Carolina governor has commuted the death penalty, and there have been 45 executions in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate the sentences nearly 50 years ago.

Unlike previous executions, the curtain of the death chamber was open when media witnesses arrived. Moore’s last words were read by his lawyer of 10 years, Lindsey Vann.

Moore’s eyes were closed and his head was turned toward the ceiling. A prison employee announced that the execution could begin at 18:01. Moore took several deep breaths that resembled snoring in the following minutes. He then took shallow breaths until approximately 6:04 until his breathing stopped. Moore showed no obvious signs of discomfort.

Vann cried as the employee announced that the execution could begin. She held a prayer bracelet with a cross. A spiritual advisor sat next to him, with his hands on his knees, palms facing up.

Two members of the victims’ family were also there, along with Attorney Barry Barnette, who was on the prosecution team that convicted Moore. They all watched patiently.

Later, prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain read his final words at a news conference.

“To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sadness I have caused all of you,” he said. “My children and grandchildren, I love you and I am proud of you. Thank you for the happiness you bring to my life. “To all my family and friends, new and old, thank you for your love and support.”

His last meal was medium rare steak, fried catfish and shrimp, scalloped potatoes, green peas, cheesy broccoli, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake, and grape juice.

Three jurors who sentenced Moore to death in 2001 sent letters to McMaster, including one who wrote Friday, asking McMaster to change his sentence to life without parole. They were joined by a former state prison warden, Moore’s trial judge, his son and daughter, a half-dozen childhood friends and several priests.

They all show that Moore, 59, is a changed man, loving God, doing the best he can for his new grandchildren, helping guards keep the peace and helping others after his drug addiction clouded his judgment, leading to the shooting involving Mahoney. He said he mentors inmates. According to the amnesty petition, he was killed.

“He was no danger to anyone, and the state destroyed a shining example of reform and rehabilitation,” Justice 360, the law firm that represented Moore, said in a statement. “By killing Richard, the state created more victims. Richard’s children will now have to grow up without their father and his grandchildren without their ‘Daddy’.”

Moore had previously had two execution dates postponed as he resolved issues that led to a 13-year pause on the death penalty, including companies’ refusal to sell lethal injection drugs to the state, a hurdle resolved by the passage of a privacy law.

Moore became the second inmate executed in South Carolina since executions resumed. The appeals of four more men were rejected, and the state appears ready to execute them at five-week intervals throughout the spring. There are currently 30 people sentenced to death.

The governor said he would carefully review everything sent by Moore’s lawyers before the execution and, as is customary, would wait minutes before the executor would begin announcing his decision after hearing all objections have been resolved.

“Mercy is a matter of grace, a matter of mercy. There is no standard. “There’s no real law on this,” McMaster told reporters Thursday.

Prosecutors and Mahoney’s relatives did not speak publicly in the weeks before the execution and did not speak afterward. In the past, family members have stated that they are in deep pain and want justice to be served.

Moore’s attorneys said their primary attorney did not carefully analyze the scene and left unchallenged prosecutors’ claim that Moore, who arrived at the store unarmed, shot at a customer and that his intention all along was robbery.

According to their accounts, the clerk pulled a gun on Moore after the two men argued because he was 12 cents short of the item he wanted to buy.

Moore said he forced the gun out of Mahoney’s hand and the officer pulled a second gun. Moore was shot in the arm and fired back, striking Mahoney in the chest. Moore then went behind the counter and stole approximately $1,400.

Moore’s current attorneys say no person on death row in South Carolina began the crime unarmed and without the intent to kill.

Jon Ozmint, a former prosecutor who served as director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections from 2003 to 2011 and has given a voice to those seeking clemency, said Moore’s case was not the worst type of crime that is often a trigger. a death penalty case.

Özmint said that there are many people who were not sentenced to death penalty but committed much more serious crimes, and gave the example of Todd Kohlhepp, who was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to killing seven people, including a woman whom he raped and tortured for days. .

Lawyers for Moore, who is black, also said his trial was unfair. Even though 20% of Spartanburg County residents are Black, there were no African Americans on the jury.

“This execution highlights the flaws in South Carolina’s death penalty system. The relationship between who will be executed versus who will be allowed to spend life in prison appears to depend solely on luck, race, or status. “It is unacceptable that our state applies the final sentence so haphazardly,” Justice 360 ​​said.